Combined hip and kidney pad for football players



April 29, 1930.

W. A. INGRAM` COMBINED HIP AND KIDNEY PAD FOR FOOTBALL PLAYERS FiledJuly 2, 1928 l Patented Apr.' 129,` 1930 FACTU'RIN G COMPANY', OF ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI, vA CORPORATION OF MISSOURI (.OIVIIBIlYl'IlIJ HIP ANDKIDNEY PAD FORI FOOTBALL PLAYERS vApplication filed J'uly 2,

Y This invention relates to .protecting devices of the kind used by.foot ball players, andparticularly to devices that'are employed toprotect 'the hips and kidneys of the user.

'5 One object of myv invention is to provide a combined hip andkidneyprotecting device whose component partsv are combined in such a mannerthat the kidney protecting portions of the device are capable of movingsufficiently relatively tothe hip protecting portions of the device,onran axis disposed substantially transversely of. the device, to permitfree movement of the usersy body; and prevent the kidney. protectingportions from sticking into the users groin when the user bendsforwardly or stoopsover.

Another object is to provide a protecting device for athletes thatcomprises two members or portions which are. pivotally con#V nectedtogether by a thong or lacing in such a way that the knot in the thongwill not form a protuberance or projection on the outer surface of thedevice. Y 'l To vthis end I have devised a combined hip 2.5 and kidneypad that comprisestwo substantially flexible hip pads, and twosubstantially y flexible kidney pads pivotally connected in- Vhip padsand arranged in overlapping relagovtionship with same, with the upperportions ofsaid kidney pads projecting above the top edges of the hippads. The device` is intended to` be Worn under a jacket or othersuitable garment, andmeans is provided forv strappingor holdingithe hippads securely in position, on the .users-body.- Due to the fact that thekidney pads are pivotally attached intermediate their front and rearends to the, y o hip pads, thefront end portions of said kid- Vney padsare capable of turning, oscillating or swinging downwardly, due to thethrust or .pressure exerted on same by the users body, for eXample,whenthe user bends forwardly orL stoops over, as is frequently necessaryinthe game of foot ball. The hip pads Vand kidney pads may be of anypreferred construction, and various types of connection may be used tojoin the kidney l l pads to the hippads. Preferably, said pads -areformed fromgpie'ces of 'heavy leather 1928. Serial No. 289,808. l

padded on their inner faces with felt or the like,'and thongs or lacingsare usedvto attach the kidney pads to the hip pads, so as to'perrnit thekidney pads to have practically a universal movement. The manner inwhich FICE 'i WILLIAM A. ING-RAM, 0F JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNORTORAWLINGS MANU--l said thongs or lacings are combined with thel partswhich they join'together Vis novely and will be hereinafter. described.

. Figurey lv illustrates a combined hip and,`

kidneylpad constructed in accordance with my invention, arranged inoperative position on the users body. l 'i V` Figure 2` is a perspectiveView of said combined hip and kidney pad. n c Figure 3 is a sideelevational view,7looking at the inner side of one hip pad and thekidney pad with which it co-operates; and sectional view,-v

Figure 4' is an enlarged taken on the line 4.--4 ofk Figure 2. YReferring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, A. desig-Y y nates the two hip'- pads of my improveddevice,whichmay be of any preferred construction and equipped with any suitablemeans.

for maintaining them inoperativev position on the'users body, said padsvbeing herein illustrated as being connected together at Y termediatetheirfront and rear ends to said their real' ends by a piece of elastic'webbing 1 that passes through afloop 2`on a spinev padV .3, and thefront ends of said'hip pad being Vconnected together by a strap 4 on onepad that passes through abuckle. 5 carried bythe other-pad. vI prefer toform the hip pads AV of relatively thickV felt 'or other suitable ma-`terial, as shown in Figure 2. j Y Y The device also 'comprises twokidney pads .B that are pivotally connected'intermediate their frontandrear ends ,to the hip padsA ,and arranged in overlapping relationshipwith the same with the upper portions of said kidney pads projectingupwardly above vthe top edges of the hip pads sufliciently to affordadequate protection for ithe users kidneys. When the device is in usethe kkidney pads B will turn,` rock or oscillate relatively to the Yhippads A,-on an axis disposed or eizv tending substantially transverselyof the device, thus accommodating the movements ot the users body andpreventing said kidney pads from sticking into the userls'groin. T t isimmaterial, so far as my broad idea isvconcerned,.hoW the'kidney pads Bare constructed, or how they are 'combined with the hip pads, so long asthey are connected intermediate their 'front and rear endsto the hippads in rsuch a Way that they are capable oi moving ,relatively to same,as 1)reviously described, but preferk to construct the-kidney ads B frompieces of relatively heavy leatherfthat have pieces T of heavy Ytelt oi'other suitable padding material secured to the inner' faces of theportions or' said kidney pads which project upwardly above the'top edgesof the hip pads. The lower portions of the kidney pads are arranged inoverlapping relation with the hip pads so that the device as an entiretymay be saidto consist of an articulated structure Whose component partsare combined somewhat similar tothe scales of a fish, whereby saidcomponent parts are capable or moving relatively to each other Ysufficiently to avoid binding or restricting the movements of the usersbody, or to produce discomiiture to the parts-of the. users anatomyWhich are located adjacent to or inthe Zone of the protecting device.The shape of the kidney pads B may be variedwitliout departing rom'thespirit or my invention, butin theform of my invention herein illusy,trated the kidney pads are substantially oval'- shaped in outline andare provided at their Jfront ends with rec uced portions so that thebottom edges of the kidney pads will conform approximately to theoutline of the bottom edges of the hip pads, as shown in Fig- `ure 2,the reduced front end portions or' the beyond tno kidney Vpadsprojecting slightly front end portions Vot, the hip pads. rlhe rear endsor the kidney pads B are joined together by a connectingdevice 8, whichmay consist of a piece of elastic webbing, but it is not necessary tojoin or connect the front ends of the kidney pads together, as the usersjacket or other garment holds the front ends' of the kidney pads pressedinrvai'dlytagainst the users body. 'Vhen the device is arranged inoperative position the end portions of the felt inner facing piece 7 ofthekidney pads B are positioned above or in alignment With the top edgesor the hip pads., Accordingly, I am able to iitilizesaid inner facingieces 7 as stops on the kidney vpads that limit the turning oroscillating movement of the kidney pads relatively to the hip pads. 1

As shoW'n'in Figure 3, the bottom edge oi'r" the inner facing piece Tofeach kidneypad is sloped upwardly in opposite directions romthe centeror' the pad, so that the end portions of saic'lfacing piece 7 will bespacer far enough away from the top edge ot the hip padf to permit thekidney pad to have a rdisk-shaped piece oi' leather 9 that is arrangedbetween the leather portion of said pad and the felt inner facing ofsaine over a hole l() in said leather portion, as shown' clearly inFigure 4;. The lacing C is doubled Vand* the tivo portions or saidlacing project outwardly j through the" disk Sand hole l0 through adisk-shaped piece 1l of leather or other suitable materiall that isconnected by stitches l2 to the inner side of the overlapping portion ofthe kidney pad, the knot being arranged on the outer side of the diskll, thereby causing the kidney pad to be pivotally connected with thehip pad. In order that the knot Will not form a protuberance orprojection on the outer race ot the dependingv portion of the kidney padthat laps over the hip pad, l provide the depending portion of thekidney pad With ahole 13 that virtually forms a pocket it'or the knot aof the lacing C, the bottom of said pocket .being 'formed by the disk llthrough Which the lacing passes. ln Order to eliminate the possibilityof the lacing @becoming ,tvvisted,the1 disk 9 previously referred to ismounted in the hip pad in such a Way that it is capable of turning orrevolving in the pocket formed by the leather portion and felt portionof the hip pad. The disk ll, which is arranged on the inner tace of thedepending portion oi" the kidney pad, also serves as a spacer'whichholds the tivo pads B andl 'C spaced apart sufficiently to reduceiriction between the saine and permit the kidney' pad to rock oroscillate freely when it is subjected to pressure by the users body `ina direction tending to cause it. to turn on its pivot. just describedmakes it possible 'for the kidney pad to have'practically a universalmovement relatively to the hin pad. Such connection is rugged enough tosuccessfully prevent the kidney padri-oni being -torn away from the hippad; it is inexpensive to manu-- hip pad A consists of a thong- Aconnection of the kindA iis invention isapplicable to various otherkinds of athletic protecting devices, and therefore, I do not wish it tobe understood that this feature is limited to use in a combined hip andkidney pad.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new anddesire tosecure by Letters Patent is: f

l. A protecting device'r for foot ball players, comprising hip' pads,and kidney 'pads arranged in overlapping relation with said hip padsyand pivotally connected intermediate their front and rear ends to saidhip pads,

thereby producing an articulated structure in which the front endportions of the kidney pads are capable or,rocking,upwardly land idownwardly relatively to the hip pads.

i ers, provided with a' hip pad, a kidney pad v having a portion thatlaps overthe hip pad, anda thong or lacing for connecting said 2. Aprotectingdevice for foot ball players, comprising hip pads, means forretaining saidpads in operative position on the users body, kidney padsVarranged in overlapping relation with thehip pad with the upperportions of said kidney pads projecting up,-

`waidly above the topedges of the hip pads,

and pivotal connections between said kidney pads and hip pads, locatedintermediatethe top and bottom edges and the front and rear ends of thekidney pads.

3. A protecting device for foot ball players,

comprising hip pads, kidney pads arrangedv inoverlapping relationwithsaid hip pads pivotallyconnected to said hip pads at pointsintermediate the' front and rear ends of said kidney pads, and means forjoining the rear ends of said kidney pads together, the front ends ofsaid kidney pads having no direct connection with each other.

4. A protecting device for foot ball playkidney pad to said hip pad, oneof said lpads being provided with a part through which the .lacingpasses and which is mounted in such a way that it is free to turn orrotate.

5. ,A protecting device for foot ball players, comprising a hip pad, akidney pad having a portionthat laps over said hip pad, and a pivotalconnection between said parts Vlocated intermediate the front and rearends of the kidney pad and formed by thong or Vlacing provided with aknot, one of said pads being provided with a pocket in which said knotis housed. Y.

6. A protecting Adevice for foot ball players, provided with a hip pad,a kidney pad having a portion that overlaps the hip pad, a pivotalconnection between'said parts, and a means interposed between theoverlapping portions of said parts which tends to reducefrictionbetvveen said parts when the kidney pad moves relatively to thehip pad.

7 A protecting device for foot ball players, provided with a hip pad, akidney pad are ranged in overlapping relation with said hip pad, a piececonnected to the inner side of the overlapping portion of the kidney padover Va hole in said portion lloc-ated intermediate 9. A protectingdevice for Vfoot ball players, comprising hip pads, kidney pads pivllit-ally combined `with said hip pads, and fac ing piecesr on the innerlside of portions of the kidney pads that project upwardly above the topvedges of the hip pads, constructed so vas to serve as stops whichrestrict the turning or oscillating movement of the kidney'pads 4relatively to the hip pads. 'l 10. In van athletic-protecting device,the

.combination of two members arranged in overlapping relation, a thong orlacing for joining said members together provided with a knot, and apocket in the outer member that receives said knot and thus Ypreventssaid knot from forming a protuberance or proj ection on saidouter'member.l

11. In an athletic protecting device, the

combination of two members yarranged in 'overlapping relation, the outermember having a hole in same, la part connected to the inner face of theouter member, arranged soA as toact` as a spacer between said membersand also as a closure for a hole, and said thong or lacing passingthrough the inner member and through the said part on the outer memberand provided with a knot that is housedwithin said hole.

12. In an athletic protecting device, the combination of two membersarranged in overlapping relation, a part connected to the inner side ofthe top member over a hole in said member, a disk rotatably mounted in a,pocket in the under member. anda thong or lacing passing through saiddisk and part inthe hole in the top member.

WILLIAM A. INGRAM.

i andprovided with a knot thatis positioned

